Exploring association of Respiratory conditions and Health risk perception of biomass fuel with intent-to-use and willingness to pay for clean fuel in rural Jodhpur

Introduction:

Sustainable Development Goals-7 (SDG7) focuses on ensuring affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030. Around 2.4 billion people worldwide are using open fires or inefficient stoves fueled by kerosene, biomass (wood, animal dung and crop waste) and coal, which generates harmful household air pollution. Other than economic reasons, various socio-cultural practices influence people’s choice to use biomass fuel as a primary energy source. The awareness about the ill health effects of biomass fuel is very limited in the general population. There are only a few studies examining the health risk perception of households about biomass fuel use as cooking fuel. Intent-to-use and willingness to pay are also the main factors contributing to the shift from biomass fuel to cleaner fuel that will be assessed in the present study.

Objectives:

1)     To assess Respiratory conditions and Health risk perception for biomass fuel in rural Jodhpur.

2)     To assess intent-to-use and willingness to pay (WTP) for clean fuel among study participants.

3)     To explore association of Respiratory conditions and Health risk perception of biomass fuel with intent-to-use and willingness to pay for clean fuel in rural Jodhpur.

 Exclusion Criteria: -

Households which are using only clean fuel such as LPG or electricity for cooking.

   Expected outcomes: The study will assess respiratory conditions of the study participants and their health risk perception for biomass fuel.  It will also assess household’s intent-to-use and willingness to pay for clean fuel in rural Jodhpur. The study will find the association of respiratory conditions and health risk perception of biomass fuel with intent-to-use and willingness to pay for clean fuel in people living in rural Jodhpur. Households’ perceived susceptibility and severity of ill-health effects due to biomass fuel use, the benefits of using cleaner fuel, and the barriers to shifting from biomass to cleaner fuel will be assessed.

1. Novelty Statement: This study will explore the association of respiratory conditions and health risk perception of biomass fuel with intent-to-use and willingness to pay for clean fuel for the first time in the western region of India,  based on the health belief model. This will be useful in identifying the. The barrier to using clean fuel in Rajasthan, this study will also assess the intent to use and willingness to pay for clean fuel for the first time in rural Jodhpur.